Purification. Pay attention not only to the outside but also to the inside.

Who among us is wrong? We will also admit to several. The consequence of inherited sin makes us a Pharisee of the gospel. Don’t we forget our insides? What is he talking about?
Jesus tells them, “… you clean the cup and the bowl from the outside, but your inside is full of robbery and malice” (Luke 11:39).

We need to realize that for those who are trying to live a more practical spiritual life and can find time for external piety, the environment is more critical. They will notice even the smallest small imperfection and mistake in such a person. The Pharisees also found fault with the Lord Jesus. What? Will you say that the Lord Jesus was not wrong? Judge.

The Lord Jesus was invited to a certain Pharisee for lunch. He went and took a seat at the table. And the Pharisee marveled when he noticed that the Lord Jesus had not washed his hands before eating. We know that the Pharisees considered the observance of ceremonial precepts to be the basis of their piety, including the washing of hands. The actions of the Lord Jesus in this case were intentional. Not that, as a man, he was against hygiene, but by his behavior as God, he wanted to show that he saw a man inside. He looks at the purity of man’s interior. It is a state without sin. We know that the Pharisees considered themselves elite and perfect people, invented and observed various laws and regulations, but within them, they were quite different. That is why elsewhere they receive remorse for Christ: whitewashed graves, a generation of spindles, the stench of death. It was pride that often led them to absurdity. By his teachings, the Lord Jesus brings the opposite of what the Pharisees relied on. The teachings of the Lord Jesus are based on love.

We realize that love makes a person truly pure. Therefore, we do not divide people according to whether they do clean or unclean work, but we look at the inside of a person, with what motives he devotes himself to his work, duties. This means that it is not enough to just clean the surface so that everything on the outside is clean and in order, and not on the inside. Even though we do not see another inside, we as believers know that God is here. It often happens that what a person carefully hides in himself is transformed, once it manifests itself on the outside. Every passion and every virtue over time, at least in unguarded moments, can be felt from our manifestations, or from the face of man. If we want to be really good Christians, we have to take care of our insides and only then of our exterior. Then, even if they hurt us and it is clean inside us, we will certainly not miss the reward. God will be our judge. Therefore, let us continue without fear. In life, we may meet people who behave better, know social rules more than a simple Christian, and yet have less respect for other people. Let us try to cleanse our insides from all evil so that we are not slaves to our sins. Amen.